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145 die." Enlil said: "Enkidu shall die, let Gilgamesh not die." But Shamash, accepting part of the blame, said: "Why should innocent Enkidu die?" While the gods discussed his fate, Enkidu was struck with a coma. Hallucinating, he envisioned being sentenced to death. But the final decision was to commute his death sen- tence to hard labor in the “Land of Mines," a place where copper and turquoise were obtained by backbreaking toil in dark tunnels. Here the saga, already filled with more dramatic and unex- pected twists and turns than the best of thrillers, took yet another unforeseen turn. The "Land of Mines" was located in the Fourth Region, the Sinai peninsula; and it dawned on Gilgamesh that here was a second chance for him to join the gods and attain immortality, for the "Land of Living"—the Spaceport where the Shem rocketships were based, com- manded by Shamash—was also there, in the Fourth Region. So, if Shamash could arrange for him to accompany En- kidu, he (Gilgamesh) would reach the Land of Living! Seeing this unique opportunity, Gilgamesh appealed to Shamash: com- O Shamash, The Land I wish to enter; he thou my ally! The Land which with the cool cedars is aligned, 1 wish to enter; be thou my ally! In the places where the Shems have been raised, Let me set up my Shem! When Shamash responded by describing to Gilgamesh the hazards and difficulties of the land route, Gilgamesh had a bright idea: He and Enkidu would sail there by boat! A Magan boat—a "ship of Egypt"—was outfitted. And, ac- companied by fifty heroes as sailors and protectors, the two comrades sailed away. The route, by all indications, was down the Persian Gulf, around we Arabian peninsula, and up the Red Sea until the Sinai coast was to be reached. But the planned voyage was not to be. When Enlil demanded that "Enkidu shall die," and the death sentence was commuted to hard labor in the Land of ac- In Search of Immortality